Architects: Ezzo
Location: Felgueiras, Portugal
Architect in Charge: César Machado Moreira
Collaborators: Fátima Barroso, Hugo Torres, Carla Barbosa
Project year: 2008
Constructed Area: 200 sqm
Photographs: Joao Ferrand

It’s a project for a rural hotel located in a farm with 10 hectares of land, 90% of which are used as vineyards. The interior of the land contains various previously existent elements. The main building from the XVI century stands out and several little constructions which are very damaged and/or ruins (the house of the home keepers, the pet store and kitchen). Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: Pieta-Linda Auttila
Location: Valkosaari island in Southern Harbour of Helsinki, Finland
Building owner: UPM Kymmene
Construction: 30 to 40 m² / 150 m³
Structure: Wood
Coating: Native woods, Glass
Concept and Communication: Trust Creative Society
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: UPM

WISA Wooden Design Hotel is an architectural gem of wood situated in the maritime heart of Helsinki, capital of Finland. Around it lie the city and 200 years of architectural history. The work was designed by interior architect Pieta-Linda Auttila. She hopes to spark interest in wood and highlight its role in building and interior design. Read the rest of this entry »

A Necessary Ruin – Trailer from Evan Mather on Vimeo.

Movie worth seeing! Moviemaker Evan Mather just sent us a link to his latest movie, “A Necessary Ruin: The Story of Buckminster Fuller and the Union Tank Car Dome”

Evan Mather’s documentary short film about Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s recently demolished Union Tank Car Dome, will begin a limited one-week theatrical run in Los Angeles and also screen at the AIA/NY Center for Architecture as part of the current “Modernism at Risk” exhibition. Read the rest of this entry »

Architects: Suppose Design Office
Location: Saijo,Higashihiroshima,Hiroshima,Japan
Program: Personal house
Site area: 246 sqm
Building area: 50.41m
Total floor area: 115.51 sqm
Photographs: Toshiyuki Yano from Nacasa&Partners Inc.

A client is a couple with three children hoped there are bright openhearted space, and keeping the privacy. This site is a field before, and bearing stratum is in the minus one meter from the ground side.Therefore, we thought support according to the composition of not the ground improvement, but a half underground from the beginning of the plan. The leftover soil by excavating the ground was used to making the hill, that thing is enabled the function of the garden on the exterior and guard their privacy from, house’s neighborhood. The upper floors than a half underground are composed by only the pyrami-shaped roof, the lighting was token in the skylight. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: ODOS Architects
Project Type: Restoration and extension, residential.
Location: Ballymahon, Ireland

The Dublin based practice of ODOS architects takes a humanistic approach to their work by prioritizing the users functional needs, and their relationship to nature. This private residence features a refurbishment and extension of the existing farmhouse and stable complex in Ballymahon, Co.Longford. The 450 sqm. addition emphasizes elongated rooms with plenty of opportunities to view and connect with the surrounding exterior. Rich, warm wood clads the exterior facade as a high contrast to the surrounding buildings; this makes the home addition a place of interest as you approach the entry.Traditional Portland Cement was replaced with environmentally friendly Eco-CEM and the house boasts a renewable energy source in it’s high-efficiency wood pellet boiler which supplies the underfloor heating.- ODOS Architects Read the rest of this entry »

Art/landscape: Jill Anholt
Drawings and models: Jill Anholt Studio
Photography: Martin Tessler
Location: Vancouver, Canada

The concept for Line of Work is inspired by the “ripple effect” or more specifically the notion that single elements working together can become more than the sum of their parts.  The sculpture is composed of a changing series of individual elements that together create a giant wave-form that reaches out towards the sea.  The elements grow in both size and reach along the edge of a pedestrian pathway connecting the Vancouver Convention Centre to the Seawall and forming an increasingly protective enclosure; a concept that carries throughout the project from the overall sculptural form, to materiality and construction, and to the organization of the text within the piece. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: Fearon Hay Architects
Location: Great Barrier Island, New Zealand
Constructed Area: 250 sqm
Project Year: 2007-2008
Photographs: Patrick Reynolds

Located on the Eastern coastline of the Huaraki Gulfs, Great Barrier Island the ‘Great Barrier House’ is a relaxed holiday destination that references traditional notions of bach occupation. Drawing inspiration from the idea of two sheds linked by stretched tarpaulin, the house consists of two habitable areas joined by an expansive floating pavilion. Wide expanses of sliding glass doors & adjustable blinds allow the pavilion to respond to different environmental conditions while providing the location for eating dining & relaxing within the natural surrounds of the property. Read the rest of this entry »

French architect Jean Nouvel presents an office wall system for Italian brand Methis at Superstudio Più in Zona Tortona. Called Hook, the system comprises metal strips with hidden joints. Shelves and containers can be hung from gaps between the strips.

“Creating architecture,” affirms Jean Nouvel, “means imbuing personal’s creation, be it a building, a piece of furniture or a garden, with the values of one’s own culture and civilization.” When he designs an object or a piece of furniture, the architect first thinks about functionality and about achieving an “elementary design” that corresponds to the essence of things. Read the rest of this entry »

Designers: Taro Kono and Hiroshi Muranishi
Project Type: Single family residence
Location: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture
Completion: March 2010
Site Area: 1,105 square feet (102.65m²)
Floor Area: 1,287 square feet (119.52m²)

A new construction in Kyoto built on a narrow lot measuring less than 14 feet wide. Read the rest of this entry »

Architect: Alberto Campo Baeza
Location: Granada, Andalucía, Spain
Client: Caja de Granada
Collaborators: Alejandro Cervilla García, Ignacio Aguirre López
Structure: Andrés Rubio Morán, Mª Concepción Pérez Gutiérrez
Engineering: R. Úrculo Ingenieros Consultores S.A.
Estudiantes: Miguel Cabrillo, Sergio Sánchez Muñoz, Petter Palander
Project Area: 15.000 sqm
Project Year: 2006-2009
Photographs: Javier Callejas

We would like to make “the most beautiful building” for the Museo de al Memoria de Andalucía (Andalusia’s Museum of Memory) in Granada. The MA. A museum that wishes to transmit the entire history of Andalusia. As early as Roman times, Strabo described the inhabitants of Andalusia as “the most cultivated of the Iberians, who have laws in verse.” Read the rest of this entry »